The first thing Kedmanee Janyamitri did after walking off the Bishan Stadium track after her 200m victory at the Asean Schools Games (ASG) yesterday was to call her mother back in Thailand.

The 18-year-old, whose 25.07 seconds was enough to see off Vietnam's Hoang Thi Minh Hanh (25.35sec) and the Philippines' Bianca Jane Combate (25.37sec), said: "I feel very happy because I met my target of winning this event and of making my parents proud.

"I know my dad would have been proud too."

Her late father, a farmer, had always been supportive of her passion for athletics, but died four years ago after suffering a stroke.

"My father encouraged me, saying that even if I had to train in Suphan Buri (Provincial) Stadium, he would gladly drive me there despite being an hour's drive away," she added.

Her mother, also a farmer in her hometown of Ayutthaya, is now the sole breadwinner for her family of three daughters.

Kedmanee finished third last year at the ASG, but worked harder in the hope of giving herself and her family a better future.

She said: "I trained twice a day and I wanted to do well because one day, I want to support my family through athletics."

She was not Thailand's only sprint champion yesterday.

Siripol Punpa won the boys' 200m in 21.58sec, beating off competition from Indonesia's Lalu Muhammad Zohri (21.74sec) and Thailand's Sittiphon Donpritee (21.94sec).

Siripol was elated with his performance. The 17-year-old also won the 4x100m with team-mates Teerawat Sithongnak, Sittiphon and Kritsana Thongchoosil in 41.01sec.

Speaking of his three golds at the Games, he said: "I am very happy to do better than I expected.

"I was confident of my speed and I just came in wanting to do my best but I am happy to do this well."

Yesterday's results reaffirmed the Thais' superiority in the sprints.

They had also swept the blue-riband 100m events on Saturday with Siripol winning in 10.79sec and Jintana Phuettonglang clinching the girls' gold in 12.40sec.

Thailand will look to add to their medal tally today, the final day of the athletics competition.